Mistreated Buster goes cruising

Until January 2016, Buster was leading quite the miserable life: his owners – Lauren Ashleigh Hunter and James John Larkin, of Eccles, Greater Manchester – wouldn’t feed him properly, and as a result he was weighting less than 20kg when the RSPCA seized him. He had clearly been neglected for quite a long time: his ribs and pelvic bones were visible through his skin and he had open sores on all four legs from laying on a hard floor.

“The couple said that they knew he was skinny and had tried changing his food, but it was clear to anyone who saw him that he was suffering,” said RSPCA inspector Vicki McDonald. “In six weeks in RSPCA care, his weight went up from 19.5kg to 31.05kg, just by being fed an appropriate amount of food.

“He’s now a strapping dog, weighing in at 37kg, almost double what he came into us at, and I’m pleased to say, after being signed over to the RSPCA, he has been very happily rehomed.”

His former owners have received a ban from keeping animals for ten years, along with a six weeks custody suspended for 12 months, and were ordered to do 80 hours of unpaid work and pay £450 each. As for Buster, his new life couldn’t possibly be more different from the one he’s had to lead until his rescue.

“He’s just come back from living it up on a yacht cruising around the Mediterranean,” Vicky says. “His new owners have sent us some pictures and it looks like he had a whale of a time, it’s a joy to see him so happy and healthy.”